HARLAN, KENTUCKY

'Harlan' is a city in Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,081 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Harlan County. The popular Old-time song ''Shady Grove'' refers to the city in the chorus:
''Shady Grove, my little love

''Shady Grove, my darling

''Shady Grove, my little love

''I'm going back to Harlan.''

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Notable natives

Educational Institutions

Media

External links

Geography

Harlan is located at (36.841487, -83.320066).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.5 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,081 people, 926 households, and 550 families residing in the city. The population density was 459.1/km² (1,187.4/mi²). There were 1,060 housing units at an average density of 233.9/km² (604.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.01% White, 7.02% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.86% Asian, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.
There were 926 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 39.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,270, and the median income for a family was $29,135. Males had a median income of $37,500 versus $20,852 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,572. About 23.8% of families and 32.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.0% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives

★ Wah Wah Jones -- NBA player

★ James E. Keller -- former Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court

★ Nick Lachey -- Singer/Boy bander

★ Cawood Ledford -- University of Kentucky basketball & football announcer

★ Tony Turner -- WYMT-TV Late News Anchor, Reporter, Vice President

Educational Institutions

Two school districts, the Harlan County Public Schools and the Harlan Independent Schools, are based in the city. The independent schools, whose district roughly coincides with the city limits of Harlan, feature Harlan Elementary, Harlan Middle, and Harlan High.
Although James A. Cawood High School services about one half of students in central Harlan County, two others exist in the County system. Evarts High School serves a wide geographical area reaching from the Harlan City limits to the Virginia border, while Cumberland High School serves students from the cities of Cumberland, Benham, Lynch, and the Letcher County border.
County elementary and middle schools include Evarts Elementary, Black Mountain Elementary and Middle, Cawood Elementary, Green Hills Elementary, Cumberland Elementary, Hall Elementary, Wallins Elementary, and Rosspoint Elementary schools.
Schematic plans were approved by the Harlan County School Board in 2005 for the construction of Harlan County High School, which when completed, will consolidate all secondary students in the county district into one facility that is slated to open in autumn of 2008. The school will replace Cawood, Cumberland, and Evarts High Schools. Although the provisional school mascot originally chosen was the "Knights", criticism of the choice led to its replacement. The name was changed to the Black Bears in honor of the bears at the Kingdom Come State Park. The consolidation will not affect the Harlan Independent Schools.
Harlan also features a campus of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Media

The Harlan Daily Enterprise newspaper is published Monday through Saturday.
Radio stations serving Harlan are WHLN (adult contemporary 1410 AM), WFSR (gospel, 970 AM) and WTUK (FM) (country, 105.1 FM)

External links